Sepsis: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Challenges

Intensive and critical care medicine has gone through unprecedented development over the last few decades. According to recent surveys, we now treat severalfold more critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICU) worldwide as compared to 10 years ago [1]. One of the most challenging tasks that intensive care specialists face is the treatment of serious infection-related multiple organ dysfunction, termed “sepsis” and “septic shock.” Sepsis has become a serious health economic issue around the world, with more patients dying due to sepsis related complications than breast and colorectal cancer together. According to recent data from the United States and Germany, sepsis is the single most expensive reason for hospitalization [2–4]. Large retrospective and prospective studies indicate that mortality of septic shock can still be as high as 45–55% and is associated with a 2- to 3-fold longer ICU and hospital stay [4, 5]. Accordingly, sepsis has become a serious health economic issue; hence, research of new frontiers in the diagnosis and treatment of sepsis has been a top priority in intensive care medicine.